


Heart's Heroes

by ShadeCrawler



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Deceit Sanders, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Blood, Deceit Sanders Lies, Electricity, Gen, Hero!Remy, Hero!Roman, Torture, hero!virgil, villain!patton
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2019-12-26 19:32:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18288803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeCrawler/pseuds/ShadeCrawler
Summary: In a city full of Villains, Patton does his best to look out for the young Heroes.This was started by a prompt sent to me by @aroundofapplesauce over on Tumblr!Prompt: For the Hero/villain ideas: Patton as a villain who is always willing to watch out for young heroes (capture instead of kill, give them snacks, etc.)





	1. Chapter 1

Virgil groaned as he woke up. His head was pounding and it felt like he had been run over by a truck. Several times. Virgil tried to move his hands up from his sides to cup his head but his hands only twitched in response. He forced his eyes open and looked down at himself. He was covered head to toe in bandages and was lying down on a large bed. He raised to his head.

His stomach dropped. This wasn’t his room.

That was when the memory from the night before hit him. He had been called by one of the older heroes, The Prince, to help out with a group of thugs that The Prince thought had been hired by one of the city’s villains. He had asked Virgil to take care of them while he went after the villain himself. 

Virgil had agreed. Even though he never handled the big name villains like the Prince, usually going after things that the big heroes didn’t have time for, but he wasn’t about to let these thugs walk around his neighbourhood and do whatever they wanted. 

He had thought that everything was going fine. It was a small group of people unloading boxes from vans. Virgil had recognized the logos on the boxes as Dr. Logic’s. A man that had a history of selling to villains. He hadn’t hesitated to attack. It had been an easy fight, Virgil disarming the grunts easily and knocking them out. But it had been a setup. The first box he had opened up had released a violent electric shock up his body that had sent Virgil to the ground. He didn’t remember anything else after that.

Whoever had been brought those boxes had known that a hero would be coming to stop them. And had decided to keep Virgil as a little prize.

Panic started to set in. What were they going to do to him? His mask was gone so they probably knew who he was and his powers weren’t responding. This was a nightmare.

Virgil had heard stories about villains did to heroes, had seen some of the Prince’s scars. He hadn’t thought he’d ever had to deal with that sort of thing. Virgil didn’t deal with villains, he dealt with street crimes. He never thought that a villain would be coming after him. He never should’ve taken this job, he was going to be killed, tortured, picked apart piece by piece. 

A whimper escaped Virgil when he heard a door creak open. He tried to steel himself for what he knew was coming next. He had to be strong, he  _ **had**_  to be strong. Prince would come for him, he would. He just needed to hold out until then.

He looked around the room desperately for something that he could use to fight back but there was nothing. It was an empty room with only the bed Virgil was on, another door that had to hold something terrible in it, and a chair beside it to fill it. He tried to sit up but his muscles barely twitched. Had he been drugged? 

The door swung open and Virgil shrunk back into his bed. Be brave, be brave, be brave.

A man, short built with blond curly hair walked in with a covered tray in his hands. He was wearing khakis pants and a blue polo shirt with a grey sweater tied around his shoulders. He looked over at Virgil and smiled happily when he saw Virgil looking back at him. “You’re awake! Good morning, Shadow!”

Virgil clenched his jaw and stared defiantly back at him. He went through the list of villains in his head and tried to match this man to one of them but no one stood out in his mind as this man. Maybe another member of the villain’s crew?

“I’m glad you’re awake,” the man sighed. “I’m so sorry that this happened. I thought that it was going to be The Prince who would be going after my crew, not you. I should’ve known better than to think that, especially since you tend to look out for that side of the city.” He kicked the door closed behind him and set the tray down on the tray. 

“What’d you do to me?” Virgil asked. He cursed himself when he heard the waver in his voice, something that the man had picked up on, no doubt. 

The man smiled at him reassuringly. “Just a shot that’ll keep you from moving for a while. I couldn’t have you running around my home, now could I, kiddo?”

Virgil tensed up when the man walked over to the closet and start rummaging inside. He glanced over to the tray on the chair and tried to imagine what could be under it. What was this man going to do to him?”

The man turned around with a pile of blankets, something that made Virgil blink in confusion. He watched as the man laid blanket after blanket over him, tucking him in as he went. 

“My name’s Patton, by the way,” the man, Patton, chirped. “You’re gonna be here for a few days so I thought that I should tell you. It was going to get really awkward really quickly if I hadn’t. I wouldn’t want you to not know what to call me. So you can call me Patton, or whatever makes you comfortable.”

Virgil asked hesitantly, “And what does your boss call you?”

Patton paused in his task and stared at Virgil. Slowly, a smile grew on his lips and a bubbly laugh came out of him. “Oh, oh kiddo!” He shook his head in amusement. “I think you got me mistaken for someone else. I know that I don’t get out much and there aren’t many pictures taken of me so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that you don’t know you I am.”

He leaned over and brushed Virgil’s bangs out of his eyes. “I think you’ll know the name ‘Heart’ better than Patton.”

Virgil’s breath hitched. Oh fuck. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. 

It wasn’t his luck that he had been caught by a bad guy. He had to be caught by  _ **the**_  bad guy. The big one.

Heart was known by everyone. He was an Empath and one of the villains that every Hero knew to be on the lookout for. He was the villain that seemed to have a hand in everything that happened in the city. The real-life boogieman parents warned their kids about.

And now Virgil was his prisoner.

“No need to be scared, kiddo,” Patton cooed. “I know I have a bit of a reputation among Heroes but I’d never hurt a young one. You’re only fourteen, aren’t you?”

“How do you know that?” Virgil asked, fear rising. He was trembling, shaking now. Any chance of staying strong was slipping through his fingers and he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to handle it if  Patton started anything.

“I did some digging when my crew brought you in!” Patton sat on the edge of his bed and patted his limp hand. “Virgil Shae, fourteen years old, lives at the city’s Orphanage and is a freshman in High School. You got some cool powers there, kiddo, they’re really something else. You do great work with them!” He leaned over to the tray and uncovered it, placing the dome on the floor. On the tray, was a plate of orange slices and a cup of apple juice with a bendy straw bobbing inside. 

Confusion replaced his fear and Virgil could only stare at the plate in bemusement. Was the juice laced with something? Was Patton just playing with him? “What are you playing at?” He asked with an edge in his voice. “When are you going to drop this act and start it?”

“It?” Patton cocked his head. “Kiddo, I think you’re confused. I’m not going to hurt you. You’re just gonna stay here for a few days while I wait for Prince to show his head.” He picked up an orange slice and popped it in his mouth. “I took another young Hero a few months ago. He was poking around one of my operations. I think his name’s Sleep. Did I hurt him?”

Virgil thought back to the story that Sleep had told him about his brief time as a prisoner of Heart. He hadn’t been hurt at all. Kept in a room with plenty of books and a Gameboy to keep him entertained. A minion would give him a plate of food every few hours and he was released after a few days. Sleep didn’t say much about it but was insistent on the fact that Heart had never touched him. Not once. He shook his head.

“See! I promise you’re safe.” Patton grinned and held an orange slice to Virgil’s lips. “Now, you haven’t eaten for a whole day now and you need to get something in your stomach. Eat.”

* * *

 

“I’m telling you, Prince,” Virgil said in a bored voice. “No matter how many times you ask, the answer won’t change. He didn’t hurt me. I was drugged up for a few hours and I wasn’t able to move much or use my powers. The muscle thing wore off though and I was fine. I was given food and wasn’t touched.” He shrugged. “Heart gave me a DS to play around with.”

“What?!” Sleep crossed his arms petulantly. He was sitting on the edge of roof him, Virgil, and The Prince was standing on. Virgil was sitting a few meters away from him and Prince was pacing between them anxiously. “That just ain’t fair, gurl. He only gave me a Gameboy.”

“Sucks to be you,” Virgil drawled. Remy flipped him the bird in reply.

Prince stepped between them. “That’s enough. Now, are you sure he didn’t hurt you, Vee? You said he knew your name?”

Virgil nodded. “Yeah, knew a lot about me. Knew where I live too.”

Prince sighed and shook his head. “That’s not good. He has both of your names now. Okay, I’m not taking any risks. I let you go back home, Rem, but now? You’re both relocating to my HQ. We need to keep you both safe. We might have to get you guys new IDs. This is such a mess.”

“He’s not that bad,” Virgil shrugged. “He seemed to like us, at least.”

Remy nodded. “Maybe he just doesn’t like you, Princey.”

Prince gasped dramatically and clasped his hands to his chest. “Everyone likes me! Heart just doesn’t appreciate my witty banter, that’s all!”

Virgil rolled his eyes and stood up. “Whatever, Princey. Now, are you gonna show us our new digs or not? I’m hungry. Patton might be nice but he didn’t give me many snacks except for orange slices.”

Remy grinned at him. “Sucks to be you. He gave me some pineapple.”

“What?! Lucky jerk!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Will you continue the superhero au? Maybe Roman gets severely hurt and taken in, but still expects to be tortured despite what the others have said? Or not! All up to you.

Roman pulled at the restraints holding him down desperately. But the restraints held firm and his struggles did nothing. He was beaten and he knew it. There was nothing Roman could do now but wait for the inevitable.

He knew what was going to happen. This wasn’t his first time being captured by villains. Roman had been through most of the villains of his city and a few out of it. He had been cut up, burnt, and picked apart, piece by piece. Roman was more than aware of what was going to happen and he was ready.

Of course, it wasn’t going to help that he had already been hurt before he had been picked up by Heart’s goons. Heart was going to make sure Roman felt every poke he gave to his newly stitched up stomach.

But that was okay. Because Roman was the Prince and he could handle this. He just needed to wait for an opportunity to escape, patch himself up, and then catch a few hours of sleep before running to his Homeroom. Mrs. Dot hated tardiness.

Roman jerked up against his restraints once more but fell back against his table with a groan. His stomach was on fire and giving him a major weakness. He needed to escape and now. If he could just focus enough to pull out his enhanced strength then he could break his bonds and get the fuck out of here.  

He pulled and pulled at the restraints holding him to the medical tables. He could feel blood running down his arms and thought distantly that one of his cuts must’ve gotten opened up by him moving so much too soon. But he didn’t stop. He needed to get out, he needed to  _get out, he **needed to get**_ **-**

“Stop that!”

Hands landed on Roman’s shoulders and pushed him firmly back down. No matter how much Roman bucked or tried to squirm away, the hands followed him and kept him held firmly to the table. “Shhh,” the voice, one that Roman recognized as Heart’s, cooed at him. “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay, kiddo. I need you to calm down, okay? You need to breathe with me. You’re not going to be hurt, I promise. Just breathe.”

It took a few moments for Roman to get his breathing under control and he immediately slapped himself. What the hell was he thinking, showing such weakness like that in front of Heart!? Heart was a villain and now he was going to use that weakness against him. He lowered himself back down on the table and kept his eyes on Heart.

“Good, good,” Heart praised softly. “That was so good, kiddo, you did so well there for me, Roman.” He slowly took his hands off of Roman’s body and smiled at him. “There we go, no more struggling. I’ll take these restraints off you in just a bit, okay? They’re there to make sure you don’t hurt yourself but they obviously didn’t work. We’ll get you in a real bed and stitch those cuts back up.”

Roman didn’t answer because he was pretty sure that his heart had just stopped. Heart had just said his name, his real name. 

Okay, okay. That was a problem for when he escaped. Problem number one was surviving Heart.

“I’m not going to break,” Roman said quietly. “You’re not the first second-rate villain whose tried this before. It didn’t work for them, it won’t work for you. I’m not going to tell you anything.”

Heart blinked down at him and had so much genuine sadness in his eyes that Roman almost believed him. Almost. Roman wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t going to fall for any tricks tonight. Not again.

Heart sighed and shook his head. “Kiddo, I know torture marks when I see them. I bet if I looked at those scars of yours, I could pinpoint the exact villains who made them. But that’s not how I work. I don’t torture and,” his eyes hardened, “I don’t hurt kids. Ever.”

Roman let out a deep breath. Not because he trusted or believed in what Heart was saying. Because another one of the stitches had just opened and it was either let out a breath or burst into tears.

Heart looked down and bit his lip. “Well, looks like we’ll have to stitch you up sooner than later. Alright,” he grabbed onto Roman’s table and started to push it out of the room Roman had been in and down a hallway. “Don’t worry, Roman. We’re just gonna keep you here for a few days, maybe a week, and then we’ll let you go.”

Roman kept his eyes straight up at the rolling ceiling. He wasn’t going to trust Heart. He had to stay strong.

* * *

 

“Roman!”

Roman turned from his school locker and relaxed when he saw Remy and Virgil running toward him. He waved his football team away from him and walked toward the freshmen. “Hey.”

“Hey?” Virgil said incredulously. “You disappear for a week and all we get is hey?” 

Roman frowned and pointed at the bruise on Virgil’s cheek. “You get that from bad guys or from bullies?”

Virgil gaped at him. “Wha, bullies, Ro. That doesn’t matter now! Where the hell were you all week?”

“I got caught,” Roman sighed, glancing around the busy hallway. “Look, we shouldn’t talk about it here. Meet me tonight, okay?” he pointed at Virgil. “And I want the names of those bullies, you hear me?” He went to turn away but Remy grabbed his wrist before he could leave.

The younger boy leaned in close. “Heart’s minions were off the streets all week,” he murmured. “Heart did the same thing when he had me. Vee too. Pulled all his minions off the streets.” he cocked his eyebrow in a silent question.

You too?

Roman clenched his jaw and nodded. He shook Remy’s hand off his wrist and walked away. As he stormed away from his two allies and friends, he thought about why Heart hadn’t hurt him. He had Roman in his grasp, at his mercy. Why hadn’t he done anything besides treat him and feed him and nurse him back to health? Why did he let Roman go without a fight? It made no damn sense. It shouldn’t have mattered that Roman was only seventeen. He was a Hero. Villains tortured Heroes.

So why hadn’t Heart hurt him? It just didn’t make any sense.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: oKAY SO~ going off your new super hero fic maybe one were Virgil is kidnapped by an actually bad guy and then prince & heart both show up to save him and some sh** goes down? Also, I love your writing, you're so talented!

“Name?”

“Shadow.”

Virgil didn’t have a chance to even think before he was screaming again. Electricity raced up and down his body until Virgil was just on the edge of fainting before he heard a quiet, “Stop,” and then it stopped. He gasped for breath and slumped in the chair he was tied to. Virgil glanced up through his bangs at the woman standing in front of him. 

The Dragon Witch was one of the more sadistic villains in the city. And it was just Virgil’s luck that it was her of all villains who had caught him.

“This can all stop, little one,” the Dragon Witch cooed. “I just want to know what your name is. You can tell me that, can’t you, little Prince?” She reached out and ran her fingernails down Virgil’s cheek. Virgil flinched away from her touch. The collar around his neck seemed to get colder, just reminding Virgil of how helpless he was with the collar holding back his powers. 

The guard that was standing behind him grabbed his shoulders and slammed him back against the chair. A whine escaped him and he could feel blood running down his back. He would give anything right now for Heart’s guards right now. Now, they were nice. 

The Dragon Witch slowly circled him, her heels making a sharp clink against the ground with each step she took. Virgil tried to keep her in his sight and tensed each time she went behind him. “Oh, baby, don’t you think you’re a little young to be doing this sort of work?” She asked with faux sweetness. “How old are you, luv? Fifth-teen? Thirteen? Just a little kid, that’s what you are. Little kids shouldn’t be playing in the big leagues.” Her hand shot out and gripped Virgil’s chin, bringing it up and drawing a pained gasp from her victim. Virgil couldn’t do anything but stare at her. Her eyes were a dark green and she was looking at him like he was a treat she desperately wanted to sink her teeth into. “Little kids tend to get hurt when they play with the big boys.”

Tears pooled in Virgil’s eyes and no matter how much he tried to hold them back, they leaked down his cheeks. As much as he thought that he was prepared for this, he wasn’t. Nothing could have prepared him for this. Everything part of his body ached and Virgil was slipping, he knew he was. The Dragon Witch was calm and patient and seemed to know exactly what to do and what to say to make Virgil want to talk. The information she kept asking for was at the forefront of his mind just urging Virgil to say it. If he did then the pain would stop.

One of her fingers gently wiped the tears off of Virgil’s cheeks and the Dragon Witch’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “No need to cry,” she whispered. “Let’s just start with your name. I want it. You give me your name and I’ll give you a nice, cold, tall, glass of water. Okay?”

Virgil gathered up the last of his courage and shook his head minutely. He had to keep being strong. Roman would come for him and take him back to their HQ and everything would be okay. Virgil was a hero and he could be strong. He had to be strong.

The Dragon Witch’s eyes cooled and she stepped back. “It seems that baby needs a little more convincing.” She waved her hand sharply at the guard behind Virgil. “Hit him again.”

Virgil’s breath hitched and his eyes clenched shut. He waited for the electricity to hit him again but it never came. Instead, the soft sound of crying behind him did.

He hesitantly opened his eyes and saw the Dragon Witch looking behind him in a mix of revulsion and confusion. Virgil looked over his shoulders to see big fat tears rolling down the guard’s cheeks. He was trembling and sobbing now.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” The Dragon Witch asked sharply. “Why are you blubbering?”

“I, I don’t know,” the guard sobbed. “It, it just hit me like a wave and now, now I can’t st-top!”

The Dragon Witch’s eyes narrowed and she shook her hand. “It hit you? What are you,” she trailed off and her eyes went wide with terror. “An Empath. One’s here,” she breathed out. “The only Empath anywhere close to us is-”

The last thing Virgil could process was the wall behind the Dragon Witch exploding and then everything went black.

* * *

 

“Virgil? Virgil, I need you to wake up now, okay? Heart is here and I don’t trust him one bit. I need you to wake up so that we can get the hell away from him.”

“I already told you that I’m not gonna hurt you or Vee here, remember? I don’t hurt kids. You don’t need to trust me, I understand why you don’t, but you can’t rush Virgil to wake up.”

“Don’t call him that! His name is Shadow!”

Virgil moaned and forced his eyes open. It took a few seconds for his vision to stop swimming but when it did, he could see Roman leaning over him. He had a thin cut on his cheek and he smiled wide when he saw that Virgil was awake. “Oh thank fuck!”

“Language!”

Virgil glanced over and saw Heart, Patton, sitting across from them with his hands on his hips and a stern frown directed at Roman. He looked strangely out of place with his khakis and polo shirt. Especially with Roman in his red and gold Prince uniform.

When he saw that Virgil was awake, Patton’s frown immediately turned up into a forced smile. “Oh, kiddo. You’re awake, good. We should get you outta here.” he glanced up at Roman, his smile turning a little softer and, if Virgil was reading him correctly, a little pityingly. “Can I bring him to my place, Prince? We have great Doctors.”

Roman’s arms tensed around Virgil and Virgil knew his answer before Roman said it. “No,” Roman said shortly. “No, we’re fine, thank you. I can patch him up fine at home. I can deal with his injuries.”

“Okay,” Patton said calmly. Virgil mentally balked at how easily Patton gave in but Patton just stood up and brushed off some dust from his uniform. “I understand, Prince. You get out of here and take care of Shadow.” He leaned down and brushed the hair out of Virgil’s eyes. “You were so brave, kiddo,” he whispered. “You did so well.”

And with those words, Patton straightened up and walked away.

Roman sighed and scooped Virgil in his arms, shushing the younger teen softly as he whined in pain. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “You were so tough and I’m so freaking proud of you, Vee. I’m gonna fix you right up.”

Virgil gripped Roman’s sash weakly, closing his eyes in exhaustion. He muttered, “Thank you. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Roman grunted. “I just broke down the door and knocked out some guards. It was Heart who found you and told me where you were.” He started to walk the opposite way that Patton went. “Don’t know why,” Roman muttered. Virgil cracked his eyes open to see Roman looking more helpless than Virgil had ever seen him. “Why is he doing all this?”

* * *

 

“Well, well, well. Looks like someone hasn’t been playing too nice with the local children. Were you, Allison? No, you go by Dragon Witch, don’t you?”

Allison’s eyes cracked open and she moaned in pain. Her limbs twitched uselessly but they were held down tightly by rope. She tried to reach for her magic or shift into her dragon form but nothing happened. What was this?

“Oh, don’t worry,” the voice cooed mockingly. “It’s just a little shot that I gave you. My friend Logic, now he doesn’t like magic. But he loves finding ways to block magic. That shot I gave you is actually a potion Lolo made for me. Puff the Magic Dragon isn’t coming out for at least a few hours.”

Allison hissed when she chin was grabbed firmly and raised so that she was looking straight into cold and furious blue eyes. She tried to flinch back but the ropes held firm. She glanced down to see that she was sitting in the same chair that the Shadow had been tied down in.

“I think that the two of us need to have a chat about how mean it is to be hurting children,” the voice said. It was soft but had such a dangerous undertone to it that it had Allison’s hair standing on end. “I know they’re heroes but they’re children first. And I just hate it when people think that it’s okay to be hurting children.”

Her chin was pulled back to the blue eyes and Allison hissed out, “I am the powerful Dragon Witch. I fear no one and if you release me now, I will make your last living moments quick. Painful, but quick.”

The voice laughed, happy, bubbly, but oh, so dangerous. Her chin was released and her captor stepped back. Allison’s heart dropped down into her stomach when she saw just who her captor was.

“Heart,” she breathed.

“Yep!” Heart smiled at her thinly. “You know who I am. Then, you should know that I’ve sent out a word to all villains that Prince, Sleep, and Shadow are not to be touched. If you capture them, you send them straight to me. Everyone else seemed to get the message.” He adjusted his glasses and pointed at her. “Except for you! You decided to act out and take Shadow. You tortured him. You tortured a fourteen-year-old boy. Now, you know that I can’t allow that.”

“Please,” Allison pleaded. Her voice was small and scared, even to her. But she didn’t care. Heart was the most dangerous villain in the city and the thought that he was going to torture her, was terrifying.

“Shh.” Heart reached out and smoothed down her hair soothingly. “Shhh, I’m not gonna hurt you. While I’d love to hurt you right now, I don’t want my crew to hear. Might give them nightmares. But,” his smile turned down into a frown, “we have a few hours until the shot wears off and we’re going to spend the entire time talking about how children are not to be touched. And,” he tapped Allison’s forehead, making a little  _ **boop**_  sound as his finger made contact, “we’re gonna talk about our feelings. And believe me, I’ll know if you’re lying, kiddo. And you won’t like what happens if you lie.” He arched an eyebrow. “I may not want to hurt you but I do punish people who lie to me. You’re not gonna lie to me, are you?”

Allison swallowed and shook her head. “No, sir.”

* * *

 

“Sir!”

Patton turned around to see one of his crewmates running up to him. He stopped and smiled at them kindly. “Hi, Jerry! Everyone made it out okay?”

Jerry reached him and saluted. “Yes, Sir!” They said crisply. “All of the crew got out just fine. No injuries or anything.” A smile crept onto Jerry’s face. “All thanks to you, Sir.”

“Oh, nonsense!” Patton said, placing a hand on Jerry’s shoulder. “You all did excellent work in there and I am all so proud of you all. I wouldn’t have been able to help that kiddo without you.” He grinned and started to lead Jerry down the hall of his HQ. 

“I’m glad you think so highly of us, Sir.” Jerry rubbed the back of their neck bashfully. “We all just do our best.” 

“That’s all I could ever ask of you,” Patton smiled. “Now, did you do what I asked?”

Jerry nodded, eager to please. “Yes, Sir. We showed the Dragon Witch down to the police station and listened in as she confessed to torturing Shadow. The talk you had with her really seemed to straighten her out.”

Patton laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, I don’t know about that. But she listened and that’s what matters. She’ll be in there for a long while.” His grip on Jerry’s shoulder tightened. “And she knows what’ll happen if she touches a child again.”

Jerry squirmed underneath Patton’s hand and it was only then that Patton realized how tight his grip on Jerry’s shoulder was. He let go with a yelp and clasped his hands to his chest. “Oh, I’m so sorry, kiddo! I didn’t realize I was hurting you there.”

“It’s alright,” Jerry laughed, waving Patton’s concern off. “I’m fine, Sir. Don’t you worry about me.” They rolled their shoulders and grinned. “Just fine, see?”

Patton sighed in relief and nodded. “Good. Good.” He shook his head and sighed. “It’s been a long night for everyone. I think we should all get a good night sleep. What do you think, Jerry?”

“Sounds good, boss,” Jerry grinned. Their grin slowly melted off and they asked quietly, “May I ask a question, Sir?”

“Of course,” Patton said earnestly. He smiled at Jerry encouragingly. “Ask whatever question you’d like.”

Jerry hesitated before asking softly, “Why didn’t you bring the kid back here to get help? We could’ve patched the kid up in no time.”

Patton sighed and shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t have worked. Prince would’ve been too jumpy to allow us to help him properly. The poor kiddo’s been through a lot and the fact that Shadow was tortured just made Prince all the antsier.“ He gave Jerry a pointed look. “Torture is a rough spot for Prince.”

Jerry nodded solemnly. “Yes, Sir. I’ve heard the stories. I had wished that they weren’t true but I’m guessing that they are.” They rubbed at their eyes. “Sir, you know that keeping an eye on those kids is gonna a job and a half, even for us.”

“I know, Jerry,” Patton agreed. “Luckily,” his grin turned mischievous, “Dr. Lolo still owes me one last favour.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Virgil and Remy go to school and meet their new teacher.
> 
> Characters: Remy, Virgil, Roman, Logan, and Patton.
> 
> Warnings: Brief mentions of nightmares, torture, and swearing.

Remy yawned and scrubbed at his eyes sleepily. In his opinion, it was much too early for anyone to be awake. Why the heck the school system thought that eight o’clock was a valid time for any respecting teenager to be awake for beyond him. How did they expect him to both fight crime and get a good grade in his classes? Ridiculous, that’s what they were. 

Virgil leaned forward from the seat behind Remy and whispered to him, “Ms. Georgina’s late today. You think she’s coming in?”

Remy glanced back to his friend and grinned. “Well if she’s not, we’re legally allowed to leave in fifth-teen minutes.”

Virgil laughed and punched Remy’s shoulder lightly. “That’s not true, Goof!” He shook his head and poked Remy’s seatmate in the shoulder. “Hey, mind switching seats with me?”

Remy barely took in Virgil switching seats with the girl next to them until Virgil was pulling him to his side. “It’s ironic,” Virgil murmured. “That’s you have the power of Sleep Inducement and yet you never catch a wink of it yourself.”

Remy closed his eyes and shrugged. “Irony’s a bitch, Darling, you know that.” He snuggled close to Virgil and said through another yawn, “I say if she doesn’t show up in ten minutes than we head over to Ro’s and spend the day sleeping.”

Virgil nodded and rested his head against Remy’s. “Yeah, fine. We’ll need it for tonight anyway. Roman wants to do some patrolling with us.” He chuckled at Remy’s answering groan. “Hey, dude. Our fault for deciding to follow in that Drama Queen’s footsteps.”

“Guess you’re right,” Remy muttered. He cracked his eyes open and fumbled with his phone, hissing at the bright light when he turned it on. “We got four minutes before we’re ditching. Ms. G better not show up at the late minute  or I’m gonna flip.”

“Yeah,” Virgil replied softly. He sounded just as tired as Remy did, maybe more. Though, Remy thought that he should’ve expected that. Poor Gurl was tortured just a few days ago. He was probably still recovering from it.

Remy glanced at his phone and shook Virgil off of him. “C’mon, bae. Let’s get packed up.”

Virgil moaned but nodded. The two of them started to get packed up and a girl glared at them from across the room. “Are the two of you leaving?” She hissed. “We're supposed to wait for the teacher.”

“Yeah, well, she’s supposed to be on time,” Remy said carelessly. “Listen, Kayla, Gurl, I ain’t waiting around for Ms. Georgina to show. I’m tired and me and VeeVee here,” he clapped Virgil on the shoulder lightly, “are gonna catch up on some well-deserved sleep.”

Kayla crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, really? You’re skipping class to sleep?” She scoffed and shook her head in disgust. “No wonder everyone thinks you’re both gonna be dropouts. Losers.”

Virgil gave her a dry look. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak snooty bitch. At least, not this early in the morning.” He slung his backpack on his shoulder and ignored Kayla’s huff of outrage. “C’mon, Rem. Let’s get going before we get caught by a hall monitor.”

“Sounds good,” Remy drawled, taking a little enjoyment in the look of annoyance Kayla sent his way. He grabbed Virgil’s arm to leave but they hadn’t even taken a step before the door was opened and a man in dress pants, a dark polo shirt, and glasses stepped inside.

“Good morning, class,” the man said. He was looking down at his shirt, adjusting his tie. Virgil and Remy took one look at each other and scrambled back into their chairs, both pretending to not hear Kayla snickering as they did so.

The man looked up and Remy made sure to put on a face that just screamed, ‘I totally got eight hours of sleep last night and am ready to learn!’ “I am sorry for my tardiness which won’t happen again. Luckily, we have only missed twelve minutes of class time so we still have plenty of time to dedicate to learning.”

He walked over to his desk and set his briefcase on it before turning to the chalkboard and writing “Mr. Logan” on it in big, blocky letters. “My name is Logan Abbott and you will call me or Mr. Logan. Mr. Abbott was my father and I will not respond to that name.” Mr. Logan turned on his heel and surveyed his new class. “Are there any questions before I continue?”

Kayla promptly raised her hand. “Where’s Ms. Georgina?”

Mr. Logan raised an eyebrow. “She’s decided to take a leave of absence for reasons that I assume are very personal. I will be your history teacher for the rest of the year.”

Virgil raised his own hand and Mr. Logan’s eyes snapped to him. Remy felt a shiver go down his spine. He almost felt like the teacher was scanning his friend and the feeling didn’t go away when Mr. Logan’s eyes flicked over to him before landing back on Virgil. “Yes, Mr?”

Virgil answered. “My name’s Virgil Shae. And I was wondering if we’d be sticking to the same lesson plan Ms. Georgina had for us.”

Mr. Logan studied Virgil for a few more moments before turning back to the chalkboard and writing down a lesson plan that everyone, except Remy, scrambled to write down in their notes. Remy lazily picked up his phone and snapped a picture.

“We will be deviating from it a little,” Mr. Logan confessed. “For the most part, we will be sticking to it. However, there are a few things that I plan to change. For now, we will be continuing with what you have been learning thus far. So please put your textbooks away.”

The students all glanced at each other in confusion. “You,” Kayla began hesitantly, “want us to put away our textbooks?”

Mr. Logan placed his piece of chalk down and turned around. “Yes. We will be watching a historical documentary this morning and we have no need for the textbooks. I plan to use the textbook as little as possible actually. I will be assigning you readings for you to study.” He narrowed his eyes when no one moved to put away their textbooks. “I’d prefer to start the documentary as soon as possible. So please, put your textbooks away.”

Virgil sent Remy an amused look, grabbed his textbook and shoved it in his bag. Remy quickly followed and Mr. Logan nodded approvingly at them. Kayla and a few other grumbled in annoyance but everyone followed their lead. 

If this was how all classes were gonna be, Remy figured that History class was gonna get a whole lot more interesting.

* * *

“I’m telling you, man, he’s amazing!”

Roman watched his younger friend fondly as Virgil waved his hands around as he told his story. The bruises along Virgil’s neck had faded to a dull yellow since his run-in with the Dragon Witch and he almost seemed back to normal. If it wasn’t for the nightmares he had every night, Roman would think that Virgil hadn’t been affected at all. So it was nice to see Virgil wearing a real smile for once instead of a fake one. Even if it was just because of some new teacher.

“Mr. Logan, huh?” Roman asked. He took a sip of his apple juice and raised an eyebrow. “Got a crush there, Vee?”

Virgil sputtered uselessly and Roman and Remy both laughed at the pink blush staining Virgil’s cheeks. Remy snickered and slapped the lunch table the three of them were sitting at. “All kidding aside. Ro, he really is something. Got a head on his shoulders and that documentary he showed us actually taught us something.”

“Ahh,” Roman sighed. “I remember when I got to watch documentaries. Now, my teachers just give us lectures. You Niners are lucky that you don’t have to deal with that yet. You’re so lucky.”

Virgil and Remy shared a long-suffering look. “Yeah, yeah, you’re suffering, we know,” Remy drawled. “Now, why don’t you tell us what we’re doing tonight?”

Roman immediately turned serious. “Shhhh,” he hissed. “Not so loud.” Roman looked around before continuing, “We’re patrolling the east side, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Virgil yawned. 

Roman narrowed his eyes and pointed at him. “You’re taking a nap tonight before we leave. You too, Rem! Understand?”

Virgil nodded warily. “Yeah, fine.”

* * *

 

Logan ushered his last class of the day out of the room before he firmly closed the door. He fished out a key from his breast pocket and locked it. 

There. Now he could begin his real job here.

He walked over to his desk and sat back down. Logan opened up his laptop and started back up on the file he had started after his first class. Remy S omnum’s picture stared back at him and Logan wrote down the information he had collected on him through his observation. It didn’t take long to write down the few things he had learnt (Seems to not be on a proper sleep schedule. Good friends with Shadow back in and out of the mask.) and then closed Remy’s file, placing it on his desktop right next to Virgil Shae’s. 

Logan leaned back in his chair and stared at the two files. He would have to find a good way to observe Roman Abgabe as well at some point during the school day. All of the classes he had been assigned to teach were for Freshmen, not Seniors. Perhaps he’d have to volunteer to oversee a Senior study period. Anything to get close enough to Roman Abgabe’s to properly study him.

The phone suddenly started vibrating across his desk and Logan scooped it up. He answered it and held it against his ear. “Logan Abbott.”

“Hi, Lolo!”

Logan sighed in a mix of fondness and exasperation at the familiar voice. “Greetings, Patton. I have done what you asked of me. I hope that this finally makes us even.”

“Of course, Kiddo,” Patton chirped. “Completely and totally! You got into the school okay?”

“It was laughably easy,” Logan said smugly. “I forged some papers and talked my way through the Principal. The bribe I left with the School Board will smooth everything else out. I’ve gotten into Sleep and Shadow’s class and spent part of the morning observing them. I’ll find a way to do the same with Prince’s.”

Patton made a happy sound over the phone. “Perfect! Oh, did you make that neat invention you were telling me about?” 

“Indeed.” Logan glanced out the window to watch the clear sky outside. “Using the bugs I’ve planted throughout the school I was able to overhear where your little Heroes will be going tonight. I’ll send my new drones out to watch over them as they work. No other villains will harm them with my drones there.” He looked back down to his computer and made a copy of the two younger Heroes files. “I’ve started files on Shadow and Sleep and I’m sending them over now. I’ve included a few things that you may like to know.”

“You’re the best friend ever!” Patton gushed. “Thank you so much!”

“It was hardly any trouble,” Logan said dismissively. “Really, I’ve been planning to go back to teaching anyway. I have no problem making some observations on a few Heroes as I do so.” He laughed and shook his head. “I just don’t understand why you’re taking such an interest in these Heroes. Don’t you usually fight the Negotiator?”

Patton sighed. “Yeah, I do. But I’m not about to let children run around the streets and get tortured! They really are doing a lot of good work, Lolo. Crime on the street has decreased a lot since Prince started.”

Logan made a sound of understanding. He had been setting up the email to Patton and pressed send. “I’ve sent the emails. But, you’ve raised another question. Prince turns eighteen on June the fourth. Does your protection over him end then?”

“Logan, I’m surprised at you,” Patton scolded. “Do you really think an eighteen-year-old isn’t still a kid? He’s too young and he’s seen too much. My protection over him stays the same.” He suddenly brightened. “Anyway, I’m planning to do something soon that will make sure that there’s no need for me to worry about other villains going after them!”

“Really?” Logan chuckled. “I doubt they’d want to join you. And are you really going to try and adopt them? You’ll have quite a fight on your hands.”

“Not unless they want me to,” Patton said easily. “But, I’ve got a more permanent solution. I’m gonna get all the other villains locked inside a deep, dark hole and then throw away the key. How you feel about betraying some of your other clients for me? I know that we’re even-steven now but I’d really appreciate your help.”

Logan hummed and drummed his fingers on his knee. He eventually smirked and said, “You always do pay quickest and you even leave tips when I sell you things. I suppose that grants you help in your endeavour.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: The Heroes head back on the street. Patton chats to another villain’s minion he captured. Logan spends some quality time with his Husband.
> 
> Characters: Patton, Virgil, Roman, Logan, and Emile.
> 
> Warnings: Brief torture scene, torture mention, mention of nightmares, swearing.

In Roman’s honest opinion, there was nothing better about being a hero than running across the rooftops.

With the wind running through his hair and making his cape fly back behind him, it made him feel alive. Alive and free. He could forget about everything happening to him and just run. Stop every now and then to kick someone’s ass but it was mainly just running.

“Watch out!”

Roman swung around and caught Virgil as he stumbled. He shook his head in exasperation. Well, he also had to watch out for his younger and less experienced friends. 

His first instinct was to tease Virgil but caught sight of the pained expression on the younger teen’s face and knew that he needed to take a softer route. “You know,” he said quietly, just in case Remy was nearby, “it doesn’t make you weak if you need to take another few days off.”

Virgil scowled and pushed himself away from Roman. “I’m fine,” he hissed. “I just, just lost my balance. I don’t need to go back.”

Roman placed hands on Virgil’s shoulders and bent down to look into Virgil’s eyes. “Vee, I know what it’s like to be tortured. I get it. And you won’t get any flack from me of all people if you need to rest up for a few more days.”

“Did you?” Virgil asked slowly.

It felt like an empty pit opened up in Roman’s stomach. “Did I take some time off afterward?” When Virgil nodded Roman put on a fake smile. “Of course I did, Vee. Sometimes we need to put ourselves first. How can we help anyone if we’re not at one hundred percent?”

It was a lie, of course. Roman had never, ever, taken a break after being tortured. He had barely licked his wounds. He just swallowed back the tears, patched himself up the best he could, and then go back out the next day. Because if he didn’t then no one else would. Roman used to be one of the only Heroes in the City and the only Hero besides the Negotiator who concerned himself with Street Crime. He needed to be out there to protect people.

But that didn’t mean that Virgil or Remy had to be like him. Roman wanted them to be better than he was, as hard as that was. He wanted them to rely on each other and be able to actually take days off when they’ve been hurt. He wanted Virgil to know he could trust people and he wanted Remy to be able to know that he could lean on his friends. And, most of all, Roman wanted both of them to be able to sleep each day without nightmares.

And if that meant that Roman had to lie to them every now and then, well, Roman thought that he could live with that.

Virgil sighed and crossed his arms. “Can I just finish this block? I’ll head right back to HQ afterward, okay?” He was shuffling from side to side and Roman knew what he wasn’t saying.

‘Let me prove to myself that I can do this.’

Roman took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, alright. We’ll finish up this block and then I’ll bring you back to the warehouse.” He raised his hand to stop Virgil’s objections before they began. “I’m tired too, Vee. We’ll all head back to HQ and get some sleep.” Roman clapped a hand down on Virgil’s shoulder and smiled at him. “Does that sound good to you?”

Virgil hugged himself around the middle and nodded. “Yeah, alright. Don’t suppose we can grab some grub on the way, can we?”

“Course we can. We’ll stop at Thomas’ before heading home” Roman grinned. He started to lead Virgil away from where they had been heading and fished out his phone to text Remy to meet them at the HQ. He started to ask something but faltered a little. “Hey, um, so how long did your Matron say you could stay with us?”

Virgil shrugged. “Until Saturday. I got an interview with some new guy to see if,” he made quotation fingers and rolled his eyes, “he’s the one. Whatever. I think we all know that it’s hopeless at this point.”

Roman gently shook him. “Hey, you don’t know that. Maybe this guy’s the one.” he sobered a little bit as he thought about everything that would have to change if Virgil did get adopted. It might be a little harder for Virgil to sneak out and fight crime. And even harder still if the family who adopted Virgil were really observant of the injuries he received when fighting as Shadow.

But that didn’t matter. Virgil deserved to be happy and have a family who loved him. If that meant being a little sneakier than that was fine. Roman would just have to change up a few things and they all could have the best of both worlds.

“We’ll see, I guess,” Virgil said, sounding neutral of the whole thing. He suddenly brightened a little and shrugged Roman’s hand off of his shoulder. He ran ahead, calling over his shoulder, “Anyway, let’s get going! The first one to get to Thomas’ pays for the food!”

Roman laughed and raced after him. “Hope you got a lot of money because I’m buying a Quesadilla!”

The two of them raced off into the night, neither of them aware of the silent drone hidden in the shadows with its camera trained on them.

* * *

 

Patton yawned and rubbed at his eyes. “Boy, I’m getting tired. I really wish we could just settle this so I could catch some sleep.” He leaned down to look the captured minion in the eyes. “But I can’t do that until you tell me exactly where your boss is.”

He was walking around a captured minion, an employee of another villain, who was tied to a wooden chair. The minion was struggling half-Pattonedly against the ropes but Patton had tied those ropes himself. He wasn’t going to get out anytime soon.

The minion stared back at Patton stubbornly. “I’m not telling you a thing,” he muttered. 

“But, that means that I have to punish you,” Patton moaned. “And I don’t wanna do that. Listen,” he clapped a hand on the minion’s shoulder and leaned in close, “I know that your boss had a few run-ins with Prince before. When he first got started as a Hero. And I know that your Boss wasn’t too nice to Princey and gave him a few scars as a parting gift. Now, this wasn’t your fault,”

“Like fuck it wasn’t.” The minion suddenly grinned, showing off a tooth that had cracked by Patton’s crew when bringing him to Patton. “I remember that squirmy little shit. I gave him a few parting gifts of my own.”

Patton’s demeanour stilled and he asked softly, “Did you?”

“Oh yeah,” the minion bragged. “The brat might be all high and mighty now but he can’t even look down at his chest without being reminded of, ugh!” He was cut off suddenly by a pained gasp. His arms struggled against their restrains to cradle his head but the restraints held firm. He could gasp and whine in pain as his head felt like it was exploding with sadness, anger, and other strong emotions. 

“Well, that’s just too bad,” Patton whispered. “You see, I was going to be nice to you. Offer you a place in my crew if you just told me everything I needed to know. But, I guess that’s out the window now, Hun.” He patted the minion’s shoulder softly and turned on his heel. He then said, keeping his back to the minion, “You’re going to tell me where your boss is and then I’m going to give you to my crew. Jerry’s a bright person. I’ll leave it up to them for what to do with you.”

The minion whined and tossed his head back. “Wha, what are you doing to me?”

Patton smiled at the minion over his shoulder. “I’m an Empath, Sweetheart. Now, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I have very strict rules when it comes to using my powers. No hurting kiddos and only use my powers on people who deserve it. Now you, really deserve this for hurting poor Prince.” He tapped his fingers against his hip and hummed thoughtfully, “I’d stop if you told me where your boss is.”

“Fine!” The minion cried, tears leaking down his cheeks. “I’ll tell you what you want to know! Just stop!”

The emotions suddenly receded and the minion gasped for breath. “Thought, thought that you didn’t torture.”

Patton suddenly whirled around and caught the minion’s chin, pulling it up so that they were staring eye to eye. “That’s only partially true,” he said firmly. “I never torture kids or innocents. But,” he shrugged, “if someone bad like you is trying to get out of the bad thing they did, then I have no problem punishing them.” He let go of the minion’s chin and said, “Now, I want a location and I want one now. I have a plan and your Boss is going to be one of the first ones affected.”

The minion’s eyes narrowed. “You look familiar to me.” His eyes then widened in shock. “Morality?” 

Patton didn’t react other a cocking of his head. “Who? I think you’re mistaking me for someone else, Hun. But we’re not going to go into whatever you’re talking about now. Where is your Boss?”

“No,” the minion insisted. “No, I know who you really are! You’re Morality! I thought you were dead, everyone thinks you’re dead!” He laughed mockingly. “The great Morality is the villain Heart! Isn’t this just delicious! Wait until the other villains hear about this!”

Patton stared at him quietly for a few minutes. The silence began to get to the minion until he was squirming in his seat. Then, Patton call out, “Jerry?”

The door to the room opened and Jerry poked their head inside. “Yes, Sir?”

“I’ve changed my mind,” Patton said mildly. “I want you to take him. Do whatever you want but I don’t want him to be going back to his boss or spilling the beans on anything he’s learned here. I’ll find out where his Boss is some other way.”

Jerry nodded and opened the door fully, ushering three other crewmates inside. The minion screamed as the crewmates picked his chair up and started to carry him out of the room. “He’s Morality! You hear me! Your Boss is Morality! The big and scary Villain is a fake!”

The crewmates didn’t even react to the minion’s screaming. They just carried him out of the room without a word. 

Jerry waited until the minion’s screams had vanished before turning to Patton and saying, “You know no one here is going to say anything, Sir. You have our loyalty.”

Patton smiled sadly and nodded. “I know I do, Kiddo. I trust you fully. Just make sure that this doesn’t get out.” He looked away to try and hide the pain in his eyes. “I’d hate for the Negotiator to find out that his old partner is his new villain.”

“Yes, Sir.”

* * *

 

Logan drummed his fingers on his knee. His eyes were trained on his laptop as he watched the live feed coming from his drones. A document was opened next to the live feed where he was writing down everything that he thought was important. Patton was going to want to know about his observations after all and he wouldn’t want his work to reflect poorly on him. 

A hand landed on Logan’s shoulder and his partner, Emile, said softly, “You’ve been staring at your laptop for a long time, Lo. What are you watching?”

Logan abruptly shut his laptop and turned around in his desk chair to face his Husband. “Just something a friend asked me to look over, my beautiful Star.” He pulled Emile into his lap, coaxing giggles out of the taller man. 

“Oh, you’re making me blush, Darling,” Emile laughed. “But I think it’s time for you to sleep. It’s three o’clock in the morning and you have work, remember?”

Logan groaned and rubbed his temple. How could he have been so forgetful? “I completely forgot about that. I thought that it was Friday yesterday.”

“Nope!” Emile said with a soft smile on his face. “Just Wednesday. I don’t have any clients today so I think I’m going to stay up a little longer. Make some breakfast for you for when you wake up. How does that sound, Lo?”

Logan buried his face in Emile’s shoulder and murmured, “You are too good for me, Love.” 

Emile ran his fingers through Logan’s hair gently. “You’re the Sapphire to my Ruby,” he whispered. “And together we make Garnet.” Emile pressed a kiss to Logan’s head and stood up. “C’mon, Lo. You jump into bed. I’m gonna watch some Teen Titans for a little bit.”

Logan chuckled and nodded, standing up and collecting his laptop to charge. “Good night, Starlight,” he said softly. He pressed a kiss to Emile’s lips and then walked off to his bedroom. He silently cursed himself for almost revealing everything to his Husband. He was going to have to be more careful next time. 

After all, how could he allow his Husband, the Negotiator, to know that he was married to the man who supplied all villains with weapons and other technology? When Emile wasn’t even aware that Logan knew he was the Negotiator in the first place? No, it was better to stay quiet about the whole thing. He would just have to be more aware of his surroundings next time. That’s all. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Virgil has an interview with his potential family. Patton and Logan do some poking around. Emile comes home from a long day.
> 
> Mention of torture
> 
> Characters: Virgil, Deceit, Patton, Logan, and Emile

Virgil sighed and tapped his pencil against the table he was sitting at. It was a sunny and beautiful day outside and Virgil was stuck inside the Orphanage’s little interview room waiting for another family to walk inside and spend his morning talking to a family he already knew would be a failure. Of all the ways that Virgil could imagine spending his Saturday, this was one of the worst ones. **  
**

He sighed and glanced up at the clock on the wall. The arms seemed to have barely moved since Virgil had entered the room, singling to Virgil that, one, he hadn’t been waiting long and, two; it was going to be a long, long morning. He cupped his chin and stared gloomily at the wall across from him. He just couldn’t understand the purpose of him being interviewed when there was an almost zero percent chance of anything being gained from it. Really, he could be training with Roman or watching TV with Remy, doing something actually worthwhile.

The door suddenly opened and his Matron, Mrs. Dot, poked her head in. “Sweetheart? Mr. Jacobs is here. He was a little late because of traffic. You ready to see him?”

Virgil glanced over at her and sighed heavily. “That’s okay, Mrs. Dot. Yeah, I’m ready to talk to him.” He tossed the pencil across the table, watching numbly as it fell off the table and rolled to the wall. He grabbed the strings of his hoodie and played with them in an attempt to distract himself. “Um, how long is this gonna take? I sorta wanted to go hang out with Remy and Roman after this.”

Dot gave him a long and stern look. “Virgil, you might enjoy talking to this man. Don’t throw out your food before tasting it. You just might like it.”

“Yeah,” Virgil sighed in defeat. “Sorry. I’ll try to be more,” he made jazz hands and put on a fake smile, “enthusiastic.”

“Oh, Virgil,” Dot said, suppressing a sad smile. “Maybe this one will be the one, okay? I’ll send him in now.” She closed the door and Virgil listened to her walk away. He slumped down in his chair and tipped his head to rest against the back of it.

“I’ve heard that sitting like that can be simply terrible for one’s posture.”

Virgil yelped in surprise and jerked up, snapping his head over toward the door. Standing in the doorway was a man with his head tilted down so Virgil couldn’t see his face. He was in a black suit, yellow shirt, yellow glove, a black bowtie, a golden snake bracelet, and a bowler hat. Out of all the strange pieces of clothing that the man was wearing, Virgil couldn’t help but be drawn in by the bowler hat.

Who the fuck even wore bowler hats anymore?

The man walked in the room when it became clear that Virgil wasn’t saying anything. “I apologize for being late to this meeting. I got held up in court and traffic was awful once I got out. What a terrible first impression.” He sat down across from Virgil and looked up, revealing a burn scar across the left side of his face. Virgil felt like he was being pinned by the man’s eyes, right one brown and the left one a bright green.

“It’s cool,” Virgil muttered. He tugged hard on one of his hoodie strings and didn’t meet the man’s gaze. “M’name’s Virgil Shae.”

“Damian Jacobs,” the man said in return, giving Virgil a nod. “It is a pleasure to meet you, young man.” He held out his hand and Virgil instinctively flinched back. Mr. Jacobs immediately lowered his hand and folded them into his lap.

“You’re a lawyer?” Virgil asked quietly. “Must really like rules and laws then, huh?”

“Actually,” Mr. Jacobs said smoothly, “I find that many rules and laws that society put into place are just too rigid and don’t give much room for any grey areas. However, I’d rather be properly informed of these rules, since I find it unlikely that society is going to be changing them anytime soon.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. Mr. Jacobs had officially caught his attention. “Yeah? So then, what do you think about the laws about Heroes?”

The laws that were put in place for Heroes were strict and Virgil had heard Roman cursing them more than once. Those laws were the reason that no one knew their secret identities because if anyone ever found out and told people in positions of power, their lives would be monitored and the families and friends they had would be used as a bargaining chip. Police and other law enforcement worked hard to figure out their identities and Virgil had had to dodge a taser to the chest more than once to avoid being caught.

Roman had drummed into Virgil and Remy’s heads to never, ever get caught without their masks. Nothing good would come from it.

“Far too strict,” Mr. Jacobs sighed. “Really, I understand where people are coming from with the power these heroes have but that is no reason to put so many restrictions on the heroes or their families. Especially heroes such as the Prince or Sleep. The work they’re doing with street crime is amazing and should be commended. Have you heard that the Government is thinking of putting microchips in any Hero that they can get their hands on?”

A shiver went down Virgil’s spine and he fought the urge to vomit. “No, I haven’t. Do you think it’ll go through?”

Mr. Jacobs shrugged lazily. “I can’t say. One never knows when it comes to Humankind and the things that we fear. It rarely turns out well for the marginalized party, however.”

Virgil’s mind swam, and he looked down. He was going to have to ask Roman later if he had heard anything about the rumours that Mr. Jacobs had just told him. They might have to see if they could find the Negotiator to talk about options. Heroes would have to stick close together if the laws came to pass.

Mr. Jacobs leaned forward and shook his head, frowning deeply. “My dear boy, you’re looking pale. Perhaps we should move onto another subject.”

“I, I just think that it’s awful that this is happening,” Virgil stuttered. “Sorry, I can just barely believe this.”

“A terrible thing,” Mr. Jacobs agreed. “But, as I said, let’s change the subject. You’re in grade nine?”

Virgil dug his fingers into his thighs and took a deep breath. He needed to breathe and focus on the adoption interview. He could talk to Roman later about the laws. “Yeah, grade nine and still in this place. Not a lot of people want to take in teenagers, you know?”

“Often people who think that teenagers shouldn’t be taken in don’t realize that teenagers need love and parental figures just as much as younger children,” Mr. Jacobs said. He tilted his head and smiled. Virgil couldn’t figure out what that smile meant, but he felt himself relax a little. “I am not one of these people. Teenagers deserve a chance of finding a home just as everyone else does.”

“You’re one of the few who thinks so,” Virgil muttered. He slouched in his chair and shrugged. “It’s not news that no one wants us teens. We’re used to it.” It didn’t make the pain of rejection go away but it numbed the more it happened.

“Perhaps,” Mr. Jacobs murmured. “But that does not make it any less heartbreaking.” He straightened and said clearly, “Virgil, I’d like to open my home to you. From what I can tell you’re a good boy and I’d love if you’d accept my offer.”

Virgil blinked in confusion at the straightforward statement and he slowly straightened up in his seat. He asked in a halting, disbelieving voice, “You’re serious?”

“Very,” Mr. Jacobs said, nodding shortly. “I know that this may have been asked of you several times before only for them to disappoint you, but I hope to be different.” He leaned forward, his face softening a little. Virgil could see the hope in the man’s eyes and he bit his lip, considering the choice.

He asked cautiously, “How far away do you live?” He could always defend one part of the city while Remy and Roman defended the other parts but he didn’t like the idea of working without his allies.

“Not far,” Mr. Jacobs said. “Just a few blocks away from your High School.”

Virgil nodded and his lips quirked up a little. “Alright.” He shrugged, trying to try to hide his raising feeling of hope. “Beats staying here. Mrs. Dot is nice and everything but it’s a little cramped with all the kids staying here.”

“I have no doubt,” Mr. Jacobs snorted, looking around the small room. “It must be rather uncomfortable living with so many people around you at all times. I can’t imagine.”

Virgil’s smile grew a little and he ducked his head. “It’s not that bad, Mr. Jacobs.”

Mr. Jacobs met Virgil smile with his own, his burn scar crinkling a little with the movement. “Please, call me Damian.”

* * *

* * *

Patton yawned and rested his head on his desk. “Logan, have you found anything yet?”

Logan looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with his back resting against the wall. “Nothing,” he sighed. “I’ve searched all over the web, Patton but I’m finding nothing that could help us.”

The two of them were in Patton’s office in his hideout, attempting to track down the locations of all of the other villains in the city so they’d have an easier time capturing them later. The majority of them were easy to find. Patton and Logan had a map on the floor in the middle of the room with pins stuck in it, showing the hideouts of the other villains. The pins were sorted by colour. Blue for the minor villains and red for the major villains. The blue pins were scattered all over the map and the red pins, far fewer than the blue pins, were spread far away from each other.

But there was still one villain that needed to be categorized. The thing was, they still needed to find out who and where the villain was.

The minion that had been captured by Patton’s crew a few days ago didn’t have much information but had spilled the little he had once Jerry had gotten to him. He worked for an unknown villain and had been recruited by another member of his crew. The minion had known little about the villain he worked for, something that made all the people in Patton’s crew roll their eyes in disgust, and barely anything about what the villain was currently planning.

Not knowing made Patton uneasy.

Logan rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “You’re sure that the information that Jerry took from the minion was accurate? It could’ve just been nothing but a distraction from the villain he truly serves. Perhaps this is just another one of Magenta’s foolish minions.”

Patton rolled the ideas around in his mind but cast it aside after thinking on it for a few seconds. “I don’t think so. Jerry’s very good at getting information from people. They’re one of my best and I know that they wouldn’t give me a report if they weren’t one hundred percent sure that it was right.”

“Then,” Logan said, rubbing at his eyes, “we have a villain out there who we do not know the motivations of or whether they will pose a threat to your young heroes.” He closed his laptop and slid it into his computer bag. Logan stood up and cracked his back, heaving an exhausted sigh. “I don’t suppose that we could pick this up again tomorrow, could we? Emile will be coming home in an hour or so and I’d hate to not have dinner prepared for when he arrives.”

A wave of nostalgia and wistfulness hit Patton so suddenly and he kept his head on the desk so that Logan wouldn’t see the tears burning in his friend’s eyes. “Yeah?” Patton asked, keeping his tone light. “How is Emile?”

It was obvious from the way that Logan’s tone immediately lifted and turned soft that he loved his Husband deeply, something that made Patton smile. “Oh, Emile is doing excellently. The two of us are having a date night today. Nothing too fancy of course. I’ll be making dinner and then Emile will be introducing me to one of the Cartoons he’s gotten into lately. Moomins, I believe it’s called.”

“That sounds lovely,” Patton said. He swallowed and kept his mental shields up high so he wouldn’t accidentally spill his emotions over to Logan. “I hope you have a fun time tonight, Lolo.”

“I have no doubt that I will,” Logan said. Even without looking at him, Patton knew that his friend had a goofy, loving grin on his face. A hand settled in the back of Patton’s neck and squeezed gently. “Perhaps you’d like to join us for an episode or two? Emile wouldn’t mind the company, especially the company of another lover of cartoons.”

The urge to go was so overwhelming that Patton’s hands, hidden underneath the table, shook slightly. Maybe he should go. Seeing his old partner again would be nice and Logan wouldn’t find it strange at all if Patton used a different name just to be careful. He might even be able to hug Emile at the end of the night if things went well. Emile and Patton could eat food with each other like they did when Patton was still Morality and they had had a rough night of fighting crime with both of their masks pushed up above their noses, enough to eat but not enough to show their faces to each other. Patton wanted that more than anything.

But Patton wasn’t going to risk hurting his old friend to do it.

“Thanks, Lolo but I think I’m going to think this a bit more,” he shifted his head and smiled at the inventor. “Besides, Jerry invited me over for dinner and I can’t let their little kiddos down. They love me!”

Logan chuckled and nodded. “Well, I would hate to take away your nephew and nieces’ time with their cool Uncle Patton. Have fun, Patton. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Teach!” Patton watched Logan leave the room and as soon as the door closed, his face crumbled. Patton buried his face in his hands to try and muffle his sobs. His mental shields shook and Patton had a hard time holding back the waves of guilt, nostalgia for the old days, and longing that was flowing off of him.

He must’ve not been doing a good job of it because the door opened a few minutes later and he was gently pulled into Jerry’s arms. “I’m here, Sir,” they muttered. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

Patton clung to Jerry’s shirt and shook with barely held back tears. “I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “Jerry, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Boss,” Jerry said gently. They helped Patton up and supported his weight. “C’mon, let’s get going, Sir. Maria will have dinner on and I know that the kids want to see you. Come one, I’ll drive.”

Patton nodded and rubbed furiously at his eyes. “Okay,” he sniffled. “Okay.”

* * *

* * *

Emile’s eyes were heavy with exhaustion as he walked into his apartment. He toed his shoes off and kicked them gently over by the door. His entire body hurt like Jasper, the Quartz herself, had had her way with him and it was hard to keep up his usual peppy energy up. Street crime was certainly on the fall since the new Heroes had made their debut but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t any for the Negotiator to have his fill.

But the popping, sizzling coming from the kitchen certainly made a smile grow on his lips. Emile walked right to the entrance of the kitchen and leaned against the doorway to watch the sight in front of him.

Logan was standing with his back to Emile and was gently poking the fish that was frying in one of their cast-iron pans. There was a blue apron tied around Logan’s waist and his hair was ruffled beautifully, probably from the wind outside. He looked gorgeous.

It was times like this that Emile knew that he could never tell Logan of his activities outside of work. He knew, of course, that Logan would be able to handle it. His Husband was the smartest and toughest man Emile had ever met. Logan would probably insist on helping Emile out on cases and it would be such a big help and it would take so much weight off of Emile’s shoulders. Logan could probably figure out what the bad guys faster than even the Scooby Doo gang themselves!

But, Logan was so soft and Emile couldn’t risk that beautiful softness. The way that Logan laughed when he was startled or the way that he saw the best in all of his students. If a bad guy got their hands on Logan to get to Emile, Logan who wasn’t prepared for torture like Emile was, they’d ruin all of the parts that made Logan, well, Logan, and leave behind a broken shell of a man.

Or maybe they would take the route of the person who killed Emile’s old partner, Morality, and kill Logan.

No, Logan could never know. As long as Emile was still in the hero business, Logan would have to stay in the dark. And as much as it hurt to keep secrets from his sweet butterfly, this was one that Emile had to keep.

Emile walked forward quietly and wrapped his arms around Logan’s waist, nuzzling his face into his Husband’s neck. Logan squeaked and tensed but relaxed once he realized who was hugging him. “Emile,” Logan sighed fondly. “You startled me.”

“I’m sorry,” Emile cooed. He kissed Logan’s jaw and set his chin on Logan’s shoulder. “I just missed holding you all day and couldn’t help myself.” Emile closed his eyes and sniffed, his smile growing at the smell coming from the stovetop. “Dinner smells great, Sweetheart.”

“Thank you.” Logan set his spatula down and turned around, cupping Emile’s cheeks and pressing a quick kiss on his lips. “I thought you’d appreciate a warm meal after working all day. How was the office?”

“Great,” Emile said brightly. Guilt boiled in his stomach at even slightly deceiving Logan. He had spent only half the day at the office before his appointments for the day ended and then going off to patrol the streets. Lying wasn’t good for any sort of relationship, Emile knew that. But he couldn’t tell Logan the truth either. “Wendy, my secretary, made me some Latkes and I had them for lunch with some sour cream, it was delicious!” His smile turned mischievous and he buried his nose in Logan’s hair. “I missed my Logan Berry though.”

Logan chuckled and wiggled his way out of Emile’s grasp. “Sit down, Emile. Dinner will ready in just a few minutes.” He gave Emile one more kiss before bending down to take out the roasted potatoes. Emile pouted playfully but went to go set the table.

This was one reason he put on the mask and became the Negotiator. So he could come home each day to his wonderful, gorgeous, genius of a Husband. He wouldn’t lose him like he lost Morality.

Emile didn’t think he’d be able to handle it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 Summary: Virgil and Remy have a talk about Virgil's new living arrangements. Logan thinks on Patton's plan. And Damian gets ready for his new foster son.

Remy yawned and rubbed at his eyes, looking at his friend with half-lidded eyes. “So, his name is Mr. Jacobs, huh? And you’re actually gonna go live with him?” The two of them were outside their school on their lunch, eating their cafeteria sandwiches as they talked. 

Virgil nodded, eyeing his tuna salad sandwich suspiciously. “Yep. He lives closer to the school so I’d get to walk instead of melting through the shadows each day. We’re gonna do a trial run with him. Mrs. Dot’s gonna pop in and out randomly to make sure he’s not hurting me or denying me food or stuff like that.” He took a hesitant bite of his sandwich and wrinkled his nose. “Ugh, do they drop these on the floor and step on them before putting them out?”

“Probably,” Remy said with a dismissive shrug. “But, seriously, this is serious shit, Vee. Like, how you gonna go patrolling with a new parent? Aren’t they, like, super protective or something? How are you gonna sneak out?”

“Don’t know,” Virgil sighed. He took another bite of his sandwich, trying to ignore the oil dripping from his meal. “Look, this isn’t the first time I’ve been moved to a new house. I’ll be off the streets for a few days at the least until I learn his sleep schedule and then I’ll be right back covering your ass.” He snickered when Remy shoved his shoulder lightly.

His best friend gave Virgil a look. “Cover my ass? Cover your ass is more like it.”

Virgil pointed his oily sandwich at Remy. “You won’t be covering anyone’s ass if you don’t get some damn sleep. Dude, I mean, how much sleep did you even get last night? Two, three hours?”

“I actually had five,” Remy said, pushing Virgil’s lunch away from him. He grimaced at the oil that covered his fingers where he had touched the sandwich, wiping it on his jacket. “I’ll try and sleep at Ro’s before we head out tonight. And, I guess that you won’t be joining us?”

“Not tonight. It’s the first night in the new place. Mrs. Dot is bringing over my stuff right now.” Virgil stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and mumbled around it, “Gimme a ‘ew nights t’ get us’d to ‘im.”

Remy rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. But for God’s sake, Gurl, eat with your mouth closed! You’re never gonna get a date with all that going on.”

“Overrated,” Virgil grumbled, though he did swallow his food. “I mean, don’t we have enough going on in our lives without adding _romance_ to the mix?” He shuddered in horror. Ugh, just the thought of being in a relationship made him squirm. “You really wanna be like all those Heroes in the movies who get a forced romance subplot?”

Remy slowly lowered his sunglasses and then winked at his friend. “Gurl, it won’t be forced with _my_ romantic subplot. Get myself a nice boy, or hell, I’d be cool with a bad one. As long as when they don’t make my movie, they don’t make me straight or some shit like that.”

“I really want to say they wouldn’t but who the hell even knows with Hollywood.”

* * *

 

Logan watched his Senior class over the top of his glasses, watching closely for any hint of one of them cheating. Though, this English class seemed a lot more honourable to some of the other classes he had substituted for over the years. The teacher of this class, an Mx. Allen, had assured him that zir fourth period was a very calm and polite bunch, one of the reasons that Logan had agreed to give up his free period to watch over it for zir for the next few weeks while ze went on vacation with zir Husband.

His eyes drifted over to the young man sitting near the front, completely focused on his pop test. Well, Logan did have another reason for taking the class.

Roman Abgabe... was an interesting young man, to say the least. From what Logan had observed over the past few days, he was fiercely protective of the other Heroes, to the point that he had heard rumours of him standing up to bullies for Somnum and Shae. Could be a little brash and obnoxious but never enough for his peers to avoid him. Was apparently very passionate about everything that he did. On the football team and in the drama club. A very, very talented young man. And somehow, he still had time to moonlight as the Prince. Which just made Logan’s job of observing him and reporting back to Patton all the more interesting. 

Logan had been following the Prince’s movements for a long time, even before Patton had called him into work this job. Not too closely. Just something to focus on outside of his work and Emile. Hearing new stories and rumours about up and coming Heroes was always interesting. Perhaps not always fun. Hearing how Morality had died had been... painful, to say the least. He had seemed like a good man and partner to Emile. Or perhaps the painful thing had been seeing Emile grieve and try and hide it. Walking around their home with dead eyes for weeks on end.

Yes, Logan decided as he opened up his laptop. It hadn’t been Morality’s death but Emile’s reaction to it that had pained Logan more than anything.

His thoughts were drawn away from Prince, Morality, and his dear Husband by the message that popped up his computer was opened up. Logan looked up and glanced around to make sure that the class was occupied before opening it up.

CurrentBoss: Hi, Lolo! How're my lil Heroes doing? You haven’t heard anything about that Villain who’s missing, have ya?

Logan’s lips quirked up in amusement and quickly wrote his reply. Normally, he wouldn’t be so blunt in emails, seeing as you could never tell if a Technopath or a hacker was near. However, Logan had programmed his and Patton’s computers himself. No Hacker would ever be able to break through his codes. And any Technopath would have nasty surprises waiting for them. So, no. Logan wasn’t worried.

LAbbott: Hello, Patton. The boys are perfectly fine. I’ve added more to my reports that you should find interesting. They seem to be staying out of trouble right now, but one can never tell with the young ones. As for the Villain, I haven’t heard anything at all, which is very irritating. I’ll keep looking. Has your right hand heard anything? 

CurrentBoss: Oh, Jerry hasn’t heard a thing. They’re really annoyed about it. I think they’re in the gym taking it out on Wilma. 🤣Not that she’s making it easy for him. She’s one of my best fighters, did you know that?

LAbbott: Yes, Patton. You only brag about every member of your crew whenever you get the chance. I’ll speak more to my contacts and see if I can hear anything about our hidden Villain. Have you started the process of putting the other Villains away?

Now, Logan wasn’t an idiot. Yes, putting the other Villains away would help Patton protect the young Heroes that he’s attached himself to. But, it would also make Patton the sole Villain in the entire city. It would make his power under the city almost absolute. Logan was almost sure that Patton wasn’t thinking of this at the moment, more focused on keeping the young Heroes safe, but he would realize it at some point. And when he did, Logan was sure that he’d take full advantage of that fact. 

Which Logan still didn’t know how to feel about. Patton wouldn’t be a bad city ruler. Logan was certain that he’d be a brilliant one. But, Emile would never stand for it. And while Patton had assured him that he’d never hurt Logan’s husband to the point of actual injury or, God Forbid, death. But still, Emile would fight and Patton would have to take some kind of action. And Logan could only hope that Patton had some non-violent way of taking care of Logan’s beloved, which he was sure that he did. The Villain had some sort of strange soft spot of the Negotiation. A fortunate thing. Logan would have to rise against the Villain otherwise and he’d hate to lose his second-best friend and best buyer.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Patton’s next message. CurrentBoss: Not yet but I’ll be giving Jerry the order to start tomorrow. No need to hold off on it! Keep looking for that secret Villain, kaykay?

“Mr. Abbott?”

Logan’s laptop was shut with a click and he raised his head. Roman Abgabe was standing at his desk with his pop quiz held tightly in his hand. The student was smiling at him politely, though he kept glancing at the door, obviously anxious for the bell to ring. “I’m done with the quiz, sir.”

Logan nodded shortly and took the quiz, putting it on the pile with some others. “Thank you, Mr. Abgabe. Please, return to your seat and take out some reading material to entertain yourself with until the end of class.” He adjusted his glasses and watched the young Hero critically as he returned and pulled out a screenplay of the musical from his bag. Logan waited a few moments before opening his laptop back open. 

LAbbott: Of course. Happy hunting.

* * *

 

Damian closed the door to his house, looking through the door window to watch the Matron of the local orphanage walk away. She had come inside to drop off Virgil’s bags and have one last look through his home. Not that she’d find anything of course. Damian had been very careful in preparing his plan. He wasn’t about to have it ruined just because a social worker stumbled upon something she shouldn’t have.

He turned from the door and walked through his house, picking up his laptop from its charging station as he went. Damian settled down in his armchair and opened up his laptop. His email was open and he smirked when he saw several new emails from his colleagues, all of them expressing concerns about the Heroes and just how much freedom they had with what they could do. They dodged the police and wouldn’t defend their actions. Not even when there was collateral damage. Damian’s smirk widened when he saw one email from a politician friend of his wondering why Heroes weren’t documented and watched, or better yet, housed in Government facilities to be observed.

He started up a draft of an email. Damian made sure that his position couldn’t be seen as too sympathetic. He wrote that he could understand his friend’s points and concerns about the Heroes needing more restrictions but questioned how he suggested that happen. And at the end of the email, he put a link to an article for his friend to read about calls for newer laws regarding Heroes in their city. Ones that would not only restrict them but also have them screened and brought to live in a facility to be observed and tested. Damian never put that he agreed with the article. Just some food for thought.

The article made it seem like the testing would be very humane. Just Doctors and trained experts working with the Heroes to make sure that they were up to their best and were fit, both mentally and physically, to the tough job of being a Hero. Many were for it already and were pushing for it to be passed. 

But Damian knew better. How could he not? He had planted the seed for these facilities to be built, after all. They would be one of his greatest achievements and one of the brightest spots of his legacy.

Though, by far not the greatest achievement. But even that would come in due time.

Damian finished up his email and looked it over one last time. Every move he made from this point forward needed to be perfect. He couldn’t afford one screw up, one suspicious glance. He had made it this far. He couldn’t stop now. Not until he had his revenge. His hand drifted up to his burnt eye and his resolve hardened.

With one push of the button, the email was sent and Damian’s plan was one step closer to coming to fruition. He smiled, wide and proud of himself, and closed his email with a click. After all, he had lots to do.

Which included, but not limited to. making last-minute arrangements for his new foster son, The Shadow. 

  
  



End file.
